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This is a very brief summary of my quest into the world of Forced Induction. It is as brief as I can make it and still tell the story, which starts back to the summer of 2004. My trusty old 93 Saturn SL2 (twin overhead cam and 132 horses baby) had served me well for over a decade but it was burning oil badly - time to move on. The only thing catching my eye on the road in the price range I was interested in was this new car with beautiful lines – the G35 coupe. Walked in to a dealership, saw one on the lot that put a twinkle in my eye and walked off with a new G35 loaded for 34k. Now this was my first automatic as (a) I was ready for a change, (b) the manual mode impressed me, and (c) most importantly, I know who to keep happy and my better half cannot drive a stick (fast forward 5 yrs and my wife has driven my car a total of 3 times, never with FI!).
The thrill of driving a car with this much torque was addicting, almost as addicting as browsing the forums on my350z. Put the two together and I was on a quest for knowledge and obsession for modifying the car. Stillen sways, MD spacer (3/8” old school), and the infamous VRT strut tower brace started me down a slippery slope from which I would not recover. I was in it for the long haul – I just didn’t know it quite yet. 2005 and 2006 would see me still in NA form working on the carPC and audio system and eventually picking up a FastIntentions true dual exhaust in early 2007.
I started planning for twin turbos, targetting 500 whp, and picked up a UTEC in the process to get my feet wet with tuning NA. If I was going into this, it was with a goal of learning as much as I could given the investment I thought I would have to make to see it through (it ended up being more – doh!). Despite researching for over a year, I honestly didn’t know what I was in for. I bugged Sharif at Forged Performance for months with questions. I visited his shop in April and he gave me a ride in his Z. I then realized I was addicted. I had to feel that torque again, on demand. The drop off date ended up being mid May 2007. My scheduled pick up date was July 14th (yes of that same year). HA! One thing led to another. I kept upgrading the build – lots of details I hadn’t considered. APS TT changed to the JWT TT with 700bb turbos (the tuner kit had just been released and I began to worry about support from APS in the future). I decided to go with one of the first stage 3 built 5AT from GTM. That led to further delays. I decided to go with one of the first Haltech units.
That wasn’t such a big delay, but it all added up to a mid October pick up date. I love the Haltech. It deserves it's own write up, but suffice to say that I owe a great debt to Hal for his support and time helping me to understand the Haltech's capabilities and learn how to tune. Way above and beyond the call of duty, my friend. Sharif was working hard with that Haltech unit, adjusting cams, fuel, timing but couldn’t hit my target of 500 whp on that darn DD dyno of his and I have to admit I was disappointed, but he did manage this at 14 psi:
Well I had the car home for a couple weeks and ran into a few minor snags (coolant leak primarily), all of which Sharif talked me through. I learned a lot about the car! I managed to pass state inspection with 3.5” test pipes and I thought all was golden at last. Until the next day. My GTM-5AT started slipping. Crap. I checked fluid and it was low. Crap. I uttered many other explicatives, but for now, in retrospect, one will suffice. Sharif was there for me though. He arranged transport, took the car back, shipped the 5AT back to GTM. Sam analyzed it – the clutch packs had severely overheated. This wasn't a design issue - the GTM-5AT is stout, rebuilt for high power and remachined for enhanced cooling. It was just human error - it happens. Sam and Sharif worked it out between themselves. I was very glad then that they have a great working relationship. Suffice to say that working with a new product sometimes involves a learning curve and there’s usually several people involved in the build up of any single car. No blaming or accusations. I talked to both Sam and Sharif on the phone and both reassured me I would be taken care of. I was. It took time though and I learned to be patient. Anyway, a very specific protocol for install and break in is now used for all of GTM’s 5AT installs. I made sure a temp gauge went on there after that also. The GTM-5AT stage 3 transmission is one beautiful piece of work - very smooth for daily driving and downright aggressive in the upper rpm range. There is no slipping at all, at least at my power levels – very crisp and predictable shifting. With paddle shifters, it is truly awesome. I love it. An innovate logging system allows me to record whatever I want, all the time!
While Sharif had the car and we were waiting on the rebuilt transmission, I decided that the fumes from the APS 3.5” test pipes were a bit much. With the car parked in my garage, I was fumigating the place with hydrocarbons every morning and evening. It stuck to my clothes as I walked through the garage. My wife and daughter hated it. So I had Sharif put on 4” custom metallics cats. The largest I could find and had them welded right into the APS 3.5” test pipes.
I also had him switch from the FI exhaust (2.5” true dual) to the Greddy evoTT (2.76” true dual). I was hoping for not too great a hit in power. Well, no such luck. I took quite a big hit. Turbos don’t like backpressure – I read it a hundred times – but I had to confirm it for myself! Here’s Sharif trying to make power with those cats on – weak sauce!
But I had my car back and it was a rocket, even at these power levels. I got it back in time for ZdayZ, May 2008, and had a blast up in the mountains. Despite a cooler sitting right behind the passenger side IC, the transmission would get hot on the mountain slopes. In large part I felt this was due to the high stall TC that is part of the GTM stage 3 build up, but lord was it fast in a straight line. The car did really well against 6MTs with more power, thanks to the GTM-5AT. It had been going too smoothly. Something had to go wrong, of course. My oil filter blew off on a high speed pass thanks to a customer supplied oil sandwich adapter. Check out the threads on the silver piece I supplied vs. the Mocal piece in gold:
Sharif was there, once again, along with the guys at the airstrip to help me out. Thanks to a ride to AutoZone from Tyler, I was back with 5 qts and a new filter. 4 qts later and a once over by Sharif and she purred back to life. Used oil analysis on this oil turned out excellent. So I escaped relatively unscathed. If that oil filter had popped off driving at night in the mountains, I would’ve never known – and would’ve been in deep trouble. I count myself lucky despite the heart stopping event.
Fast forward a bit and the car has been humming along but I was looking to get back some of that lost power. Tony at Motordyne has a new exhaust system with interchangeable components and a mid stream catalytic converter. I thought it's time to get rid of the cats right behind the turbos! I took the car back to Forged last Christmas for a revised torque converter install (lower stall), custom dual CAI (instead of JWT’s single), MAF relocation to the charge pipe (required by the 5AT TCM), and removal of the cats from the downpipes among a few other odds and ends. While I'm still waiting on MD's new true dual exhaust setup for FI, I'm ready for it. Bring it on Tony.
Power came back but Sharif still couldn’t hit the 500 whp mark. On the same tune, the boost level raised from 14 to 15 psi and power levels certainly made a healthy jump. Here is the best 3rd gear run Sharif could muster.
We both forgot to do a run in 4th gear and there’s usually a little bump in power from that though not enough for 25 whp on Sharif’s dyno. I was a little disappointed but had learned enough by this point not to go chasing a number. There was so much to like with the work done by Chris, one of the best techs at Forged. The dual intakes were fabulous and have kept air temps down, even sitting at lights. He relocated the coolant and wiper reservoirs to the front – very cleanly done. A nice vacuum port cleaned up the spaghetti of hoses that use to surround the plenum. To conclude this story for now, I took the car to a local Dynojet, and had the power checked with a 4th gear run at 15 psi, compared to 4th gear at 14 psi with cats:
Here's a dynojet comparison, with dual 4" metallic cats and without - doesn't seem to be a way around the power loss , but I loved those cats:
521 max whp, 481 max wtq. DJ STD correction. Bottom line, the car is my personalized super car. The journey has been long, and admittedly sometimes agonizingly frustrating, but with a healthy dose of patience, has ended up rewarding. The world of FI is unpredictable to say the least. Expensive? Yes, but no regrets here.
Build List Summary
Engine
- Forged Performance S1 shortblock
- Arias ED pistons, .02 overbore
- Eagle rods
- HKS headgasket
- L19 headstuds
- JWT S2 cams, valve springs
- No headwork
- Evans NPG+ coolant since day 1
- CJM stage 1 fuel system, HKS 1000 cc injectors
- Haltech EMS w/ dual closed loop wideband control
- Osiris tuner for reflash (speed limiter, idle adjustment, Cipher diagnostics, CEL removal)
JWT 700bb twin turbo kit
- twin GT2860RS turbos
- custom dual cold air intake
- upgraded coolant lines
- APS 3.5" downpipes customized with v-band clamps and mated to a Motordyne TDX true dual exhaust
Suspension
- Tein monoflex
- SPL front camber arms, street spec version
- Rear FP eccentric toe bolts, camber arms
- Alignment set at -1.7 in the front, -1.5 in rear
- Toyo R888 R compound tires, 305/30R19 and 265/30R19
- Volks CE-28N Formula Silver Limited Edition wheels, 19x10.5 and 19x9.5 (seen in more recent top pic only)
- Scott's front strut tower brace (modified by Forged)
Brakes
- Stoptech 6 piston, 355 mm slotted 2 piece rotors front
- Stoptech 4 piston, 355 mm slotted 2 piece rotors rear
- Powder coated by Mike the powder coater! Thanks Mike!
Audio
- Diamond audio S600 hex speaker components up front
- Diamond audio coaxials for rear fill
- Infinity 4 channel amp, 110W x 4
- Kicker 10" sub in false trunk floor
- Alpine 400W class D amp for sub
- JVC KD-AVX-77 single DIN touchscreen headunit
- carPC w/ Haltech GUI and Streetdeck navigation / integration software.
(slipped 1st and 2nd with PS2 summer tires on a cold day - this turned more into a 4th gear run - lol)
RC- Nice write up! You willing to do my write-up when it's ready? LOL.
Your car looks sick. I've read a lot about your build, but I hadn't seen it until now. Very clean and tastefully aggressive. Thanks for the help and advice about the 5AT issues and questions over the last year also. You are very knowledgeable and helpful.
Now, hit the track and post a video! I think you'll find better times than the 6MT's with similar power.
__________________
Greddy TT, Built Longblock, Built 5AT, Pro-EFI, Etc, Etc, Etc 525WHP @ 14 PSI, high boost tune coming soon.
RC- Nice write up! You willing to do my write-up when it's ready? LOL.
Your car looks sick. I've read a lot about your build, but I hadn't seen it until now. Very clean and tastefully aggressive. Thanks for the help and advice about the 5AT issues and questions over the last year also. You are very knowledgeable and helpful.
Now, hit the track and post a video! I think you'll find better times than the 6MT's with similar power.
Looking forward to hitting the track - first time I've had the suspension ready to roll with decent camber for traction. Just waiting on some warm weather and then I'm heading to Luie's old haunt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM3Z
Nice write up Raj. The airport pictures bring back some memories.
Edit: Wow, you do love your gadgets
2nd Edit: When my school (Clemson) beat you guys the other night, it was awesome. Just thought I'd remind you...
Thanks - I do have an addiction for gadgets. And thanks for the reminder - lol. Coach K just likes to be the underdog each season - this is all part of the plan. Ha!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler4
Great write up Raj. Looking forward to May!
See you at ZdayZ, which reminds me - time to book a room!
nice build. one question, you have an automatic but in one of the pics, i see a clutch?
LMAO-that is the dead pedal
Good build, it's funny to look back and see how most of the built FI guys have progressed from weak sauce to owning monsters. I used to think my 262whp 13.1 @ 107mph was quick, now I drive NA Z's and feel bad for revving their slow a$$ses past 5000rpm's
Good build, it's funny to look back and see how most of the built FI guys have progressed from weak sauce to owning monsters. I used to think my 262whp 13.1 @ 107mph was quick, now I drive NA Z's and feel bad for revving their slow a$$ses past 5000rpm's
Thanks Alberto. I've thought about getting a race fuel tune or adding meth, but I just haven't had enough seat time at 15 psi yet. Although most think it's a no-brainer driving an auto (and shifting is a no brainer admittedly, esp. with paddles and a built trans), controlling traction with the throttle is much harder - the fluid coupling disconnects you from power control. The new TC has helped - it has a more direct feel that the original built version. The Haltech has also helped being able to play with closed loop boost control, wheel spin, and speed maps:
But I think I need another map to reduce timing as the boost reduction doesn't occur quickly enough. (Hal! help! ) Anyway, hopefully when I get some track time under my belt, I'll figure out what to do with gears 1 and 2. LOL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by UMW350Z
Sweet results...but what is up with that loop-de-loop in the dyno graph???
That was what the old torque converter used to do as it would lock in 4th gear. It doesn't happen in 3rd. For some reason, the new TC doesn't do this as much as the original as the 4th gear DJ run had a peak at 4k, but rpms didn't actually fall and pick back up again. Nice T-shirt though! LOL
I have yet to mess with any type of boost/traction control with the Haltech. Do you find it works adequately? I just peddle the car when it spins, controlling it is half the fun to owning a car like this...
I have yet to mess with any type of boost/traction control with the Haltech. Do you find it works adequately? I just peddle the car when it spins, controlling it is half the fun to owning a car like this...
Well it needs to be dialed in like anything else. Has it made the car hook better in lower gears? Not yet but I'm still playing with it. The boost control does work - I've logged boost vs. wheel spin, but there is a delay and the tires still spin, and once they let go, it's harder to get traction back without bogging or upshifting, so verdict still out... I think timing changes would be instant, so I'm thinking about that route, but want to check with Hal first on that.
Thanks - and mr. speed demon telling me to be safe - lol. No worries, I'm always extra cautious, which is why the video sucked. Well that and the damn old camera that can't focus in low light. It's amazing how fast the car gets to 140 at 12 psi. 15 psi will spin 3rd so I backed off for safety.
Disclaimer: That run was performed on a private dead end service road. Do not attempt at home or on public roads!
Quote:
Originally Posted by usingthejohn
awesome car and build-up, RC. you're one of the guys on this site I plan on blueprinting my build after.
And I like the song playing at the beginning of the video
Thanks! The GT28s provide a very balanced set up for a 500 whp daily driver.
Forged Performance: rcdash's Twin Turbo G35
Walked in to a dealership, saw one on the lot that put a twinkle in my eye and walked off with a new G35 loaded for 34k. Now this was my first automatic as (a) I was ready for a change, (b) the manual mode impressed me, and (c) most importantly, I know who to keep happy and my better half cannot drive a stick (fast forward 5 yrs and my wife has driven my car a total of 3 times, never with FI!). 
Put the two together and I was on a quest for knowledge and obsession for modifying the car. Stillen sways, MD spacer (3/8” old school), and the infamous VRT strut tower brace started me down a slippery slope from which I would not recover. I was in it for the long haul – I just didn’t know it quite yet. 2005 and 2006 would see me still in NA form working on the carPC and audio system and eventually picking up a FastIntentions true dual exhaust in early 2007. 
Sharif was working hard with that Haltech unit, adjusting cams, fuel, timing but couldn’t hit my target of 500 whp on that darn DD dyno of his and I have to admit I was disappointed, but he did manage this at 14 psi:
Crap. I checked fluid and it was low. 
Crap. 
I uttered many other explicatives, but for now, in retrospect, one will suffice. Sharif was there for me though. He arranged transport, took the car back, shipped the 5AT back to GTM. Sam analyzed it – the clutch packs had severely overheated. This wasn't a design issue - the GTM-5AT is stout, rebuilt for high power and remachined for enhanced cooling. It was just human error - it happens. Sam and Sharif worked it out between themselves. I was very glad then that they have a great working relationship. Suffice to say that working with a new product sometimes involves a learning curve and there’s usually several people involved in the build up of any single car. No blaming or accusations. I talked to both Sam and Sharif on the phone and both reassured me I would be taken care of. I was. It took time though and I learned to be patient. Anyway, a very specific protocol for install and break in is now used for all of GTM’s 5AT installs. I made sure a temp gauge went on there after that also. The GTM-5AT stage 3 transmission is one beautiful piece of work - very smooth for daily driving and downright aggressive in the upper rpm range. There is no slipping at all, at least at my power levels – very crisp and predictable shifting. With paddle shifters, it is truly awesome. I love it. An innovate logging system allows me to record whatever I want, all the time!
, but I loved those cats:
I think timing changes would be instant, so I'm thinking about that route, but want to check with Hal first on that.
